May Play-by-Play

by Duane Barrett

Overview
The 1st Saturday in May was a rather blustery day for racing. Overall the racing was blast and went reasonably well, however there was considerable carnage in both Park FLyer (T-28) and Reno classes. Reno still had some aircraft color issues, but the pylon judges worked through it. For the most part a pretty awesome day with some interesting tree parking skills displayed!

Weather
The weather was a quite dreary and ominous for the begining with a gusty wind out of the south. One of the pylon judges kept telling me he was hearing thunder off in the distance.
I didn't hear any though! But, never the less the rain and thunder held off and we kept dry. However the wind was very brisk at ~ 8 to 10 with gusts higher at times and in a direction that forced a change to a southbound take off after the first heat. That means extra flying before the racing starts actually starts.

T-28 Class
Nine of eleven pilots participated in the T-28 class of racing that day. We started with Sections of five and four participants. However we adjusted for the last heat where we had three and three. There was a few mishaps causing pilots to drop out. More on that carnage below.

Heat 1:
Section 1: Five of the six racers got off the ground without incident, however Duane ground looped to the right into the grass on take roll and flipped upside down. He was out for the heat. At some point Tom crashed out during the heat. The finish was Terry, Rick, Chuck.
Section 2: Rob ground looped to left and into the grass on take roll and flipped upside down. I guess he didn't want to be out done by Duane. The rest of the heat went without a hitch. The finish was KC, Greg W., and Jeff in third.

Heat 2:
Section 1: Five racers on the starting blocks again, Tom with his back up plane. Some where during the heat Tom crashed out again, sorry I was racing didn't catch which lap. At the finish line it was Terry, followed closely by Rick, then Duane and Chuck taking fourth.
Section 2: We had four planes take off again, but KC didn't make it around the first south pylon turn to the start of the race. Once racing was on Rob was doing a fine job of holding off everyone until the end of the 6th lap, when somewhere between the start/finish line and the north pylon on lap 7 Rob decided that the infield needed mowing. His plane did not do a good job as a mower and suffered flying field irrepairable damage. He was now out for the day. With only two planes still flying all Jeff had to do was finish and he took a second place to Greg W.'s first.

Heat 3:
Section 1: With only six racers still able to compete we moved Chuck to the second section and flew three and three for heat 3. Tom was out for the day and Terry, Duane and Rick lined up for the start. The start was good but some where on the first lap Rick tapped out. Leaving only Terry and Duane flying. Rob, Duane's racing coach, told him just settle down and finish the seven laps, you have second place wrapped up. Obviously Terry went on to finish first with Duane second.
Section 2: The remaining three racers, Chuck, Greg W., and Jeff all got off the ground and flew a good heat with Greg W. first, Jeff in second and Chuck in third.

T-28 Wrap Up:
Overall Terry has still the large lead with another perfect race day, followed by Greg W., who made a terrific come back today moving from 9th into 2nd place overall. Jeff also made a come back today moving from 5th into 3rd place. Rick dropped a spot from 3rd to 4th and Tom from 4th to 7th. Duane also had a rough day going from 2nd place to 5th at the end of racing. KC managed to some how improve from 8th to 6th even with his crash and DNS. Chuck has moved from 11th place to 8th. Rob and Sean remain tied but now it's for 9th instead of 6th. Bruce is now in last place, having not flown this month. These standings will dictate the start order for next month gentlemen. A reminder to be sure and review the rules before June as the changes approved today will be in effect from now on. They will be posted here on the site.

Reno Class
Once again the Reno class has planes looking too much alike. The pylon judges finally decided they could call them, after much thought, otherwise we would have streamed up planes according to the rules. Reno pilots you need to get together with each other and make some color changes so everyone is different or you will all be towing colored streamers per the rules.

Heat 1: Five planes, too many confusing common colors guys. Terry first, Rick second, Greg third and Chuck fourth after KC had a tap out.

Heat 2: Terry was a little slower as he decided to tow a short yellow streamer, his choice - not required. He also said his battery was funky that heat as well as two cuts. Rick also tried to land on top of Terry's plane somewhere around lap two, but both planes flew on to complete the heat. Rick was first, Greg second, Terry third and somewhere during the race Chuck had a pylon strike followed closely by a ground strike and did not finish.

Reno Wrap Up:
Reno had some attrition today as KC crashed out in the first heat and Chuck tried to run down a pylon in heat two to no avail. Terry proved that carrying a streamer does slow you down. But overall I think everyone had a fun day of racing.